Inside Autos: Car Buyer Gender Divide

Thanks to Drew Sheneman/The Star-Ledger For this apropos cartoon.

Editors Note: DUH! This is one of the most inane stories we have published, but oh well we give you the good the bad and the ugly. If you seriously want to get a woman's opinion on cars read our own Katrin Ramser review series Heel on Wheels and what Henny Hemmes our senior European editor has to say.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 11, 2011; The AIADA newsletter reported that in the latest not-so-surprising discovery, a study has found that women are the ones who like Mini and Kia while men lean toward Porsche and trucks.

According to The Detroit Free Press, the conclusion was based on an analysis by TrueCar of gender difference in car buying. "The study shows that women car buyers are more cost conscious and purchased fuel-efficient vehicles while male buyers were completely the opposite, purchasing vehicles that were either big and brawny, like a large truck, or chose a high-priced, high-performance vehicle," said Jesse Toprak, a TrueCar analyst.

The brand with the highest percentage of retail sales to women in 2010 was Mini, at 47.9 percent, followed by Kia, 46.8 percent and Honda, 46 percent. The 10 models with the highest percentage of female buyers and at least 1,000 retail sales last year were: Volkswagen New Beetle, Kia Spectra, Nissan Rogue, Volkswagen Eos, Hyundai Entourage, Volvo S40, Jeep Compass, Honda CR-V, Nissan Sentra, and Hyundai Tucson. (Gee, aren't women 51% of our population?)

Men were the primary buyers of super-expensive, small-volume and exotic cars. Men accounted for 93.6 percent of Ferrari buyers and more than 90 percent of Lotus and Lamborghini buyers.

Editors Note: This is one of the most inane stories we have published, but oh well we give you the good the bad and the ugly...ain't interactivity great - CLICK, SEE YA!